One
Sunday morning, St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia was traveling together with a
well-known older villager towards the village church. On the road, they met a
group of six or seven young people traveling in the opposite direction. The
villager asked the young people:
"Where
are you going guys?"
What
did they respond? "To the coffee shop."
Then,
the villager (who was very austere) told them:
"Aren't
you ashamed, today on Sunday morning, of going to the coffee shop instead of
church? Are you Christians?"
And he
pelted them with a zealous sermon. The young people cursed at him and continued
on their way. St. Porphyrios was silent. The villager, full of excitement and
self-assurance, said to the Elder:
"Did
I speak well to those brats?"
And
St. Porphyrios responded: "No, you did not speak well..."
The
villager, who was expecting congratulations, was embittered by the response of
the Saint. They reached the church and St. Porphyrios went to the Holy Altar
and the villager took a seat in church.
Not
even a half hour passed, until all of the young people of that group entered
the church! The villager was rubbing his hands out of satisfaction. As soon as
the Divine Liturgy was finished, St. Porphyrios left the Holy Altar, and the
villager hastened to meet him and pointed to the young people, saying to him:
"You
said that I didn't speak well? They thought of my words and came to
church."
And
St. Porphyrios smiled, and explained to him that they came because he was
praying silently for them and not that they were moved by the villager's
stance....
In
reality, prayer moves and transforms other people, not our words... Because of
this we should not [primarily] speak to others about God, but speak to God
about others.
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